An automatic dispenser or vending machine which sells products, such as canned beverages, PET bottle beverages is configured such that the products are divided into cold products and hot products in a product accommodating storage of body cabinet as a heat insulating casing, a plurality of product samples is laterally arranged and displayed in an outer door display chamber, and a product selected based on operation of project-selection buttons provided corresponding to the project samples. This kind of automatic dispenser will be described using FIG. 15.
As shown in FIG. 15, this automatic dispenser includes a body cabinet 100 whose front surface is opened, and an outdoor 160 supported on a front surface of the body cabinet 100 such that the outdoor 160 can open and close through a hinge. Heat insulation boards composed of urethane foam is placed on an inner side, i.e., outer wall, left and right walls, and a back wall 110 of a steel plate of the body cabinet 100, so that the body cabinet 100 is configured as a heat insulation casing. The inside of a produce accommodating storage surrounded by heat insulation of the body cabinet 100 is laterally divided into a plurality of product accommodating chambers 130, 140 and 150 by product accommodating storages 120. In this example, product accommodating racks 180 having meandering passages called serpentine are respectively accommodated in the product accommodating chambers 130, 140 and 150. An inner door 170 is placed between the outdoor 160 which is supported by the front surface of the body cabinet 100 such that the outdoor 160 can open and close and a front surface of the project accommodating storage of the body cabinet 100. In this example, the inner door 170 is divided into upper and lower portions. The lower inner door 170 is provided with a product carry-out port having a carrying-out door 170a opposed to a shooter 190 which sends out a product carried out from the product accommodating rack 180 of the product accommodating chambers 130, 140 and 150. An upper inlet of the carrying-out door 170a is pivotally supported and suspended, closes the product carry-out outlet by its own weight, and thereby preventing cold air or warm air from flowing out. The carrying-out door 170a is pushed and opened by a product which is carried out through the shoot 190, and the project is sent out to a product carry-out outlet 160a of the outdoor 160. An upper region of the front surface of the outdoor 160 is formed as a display chamber covered with a transparent plate for displaying the project samples, a product selection button unit is provide on a front surface of the transparent plate, and the product selection button unit includes product-selection buttons provided in correspondence to the displayed product samples. The front surface of the outdoor 160 is provided with a bill-insertion slot, a coin-insertion slot, a return lever, a product take-out opening, a handle lock and the like.
As shown in FIG. 16, each of the product accommodating racks 180 includes a pair of left and right rack side plates 181, 181 made of flat thin steel plate, a plurality of (five in the drawing) front and rear rows of meandering product accommodating passages (product columns) 183 placed between a pair of front and rear curved rail segment rows 182 which is opposed to the left and right rack side plates 181, 181 such that the rail segment rows 182 are deviated from the left and right rack side plates 181, 181 in the vertical direction by half pitch, a top tray 184 which connects, to each other, a product insertion port SL (see FIG. 15) formed at a front surface opening of the body cabinet 100 and an upper inlet of product accommodating passages 183 after second raw, product carry-out devices 200 placed at the lower end outlets of the respective product accommodating passages 183, and outlet-adjusting plates 290 opposed to the product carry-out devices 200 while sandwiching the product accommodating passages. In this example, each of the product accommodating racks 180 includes a front side product accommodating rack 180a having two rows of product accommodating passages 183, and a rear side product accommodating rack 180b having three rows of product accommodating passages 183. Rack-side hook clamps 811, 811 provided in upper ends of the pair of left and right left and right rack side plates 181, 181 of the product accommodating racks 180a, 180b are locked to and fixed to the body-side hook clamp (not shown).
Each of the product carry-out devices 200 includes a first stopper member 220 which moves toward a projecting position which projects to the product accommodating passage 183 in a state where a number one-sales product (sales product) is held, and the first stopper member 220 can move to a retreating position retreating from the product accommodating passage 183 in a state where the holding state of the sales product is released. The product carry-out device 200 also includes a second stopper member 230 which moves toward a projecting position projecting into the product accommodating passage 183 in a state where the second stopper member 230 holds a number two-sales product (sales product) which follows after the number one-sales product, and which moves to a retreating position retreating from the product accommodating passage 183 in a state where the holding state of the sales product is released. The first stopper member 220 and the second stopper member 230 are made to come into and out from the product accommodating passage 183 by alternately exciting and demagnetizing solenoid as driving means, thereby carrying out the sales product while holding the next sales product by the second stopper member 230.
In this automatic dispenser, to handle products having different sizes (e.g., canned beverages of 170 ml, PET bottle beverages of 500 ml), different kinds of product accommodating racks 180 are prepared in accordance with lateral width corresponding to length of products (lateral width in direction of product accommodating passages) (usually two kinds of product accommodating racks having relatively short products and relatively long products). In this case, to arrange the short products on the side of the pair of left and right rack side plates 181, 181, a passage width adjusting plate (not shown) which brings one of the rack side plate 181 toward and away from the other rack side plate 181 is placed, the passage width adjusting plate is moved and adjusted in accordance with a length of a product, thereby determining the product accommodating passages width. Further, due to diversification of products, short products (half-size product, hereinafter) less than half of long products (long-size produce) hereinafter appear. When the long-size products are replaced by the half-size products for sale, if the a passage width of the product accommodating passage 183 in which the long-size products are arranged in one row is determined to a width of the half-size products by moving and adjusting the passage width adjusting plate, two rows of product accommodating passages capable of accommodating half-size products are formed on left and right sides based on the passage width adjusting plate as a border. Therefore, it is known that the product accommodating rack 180 which can accommodate the long-size products by arranging and accommodating the half-size products in two rows can also be used as product accommodating rack 180 for the half-size products. In this case, corresponding to the half-size products accommodated in two row, two product carry-out devices 200 are placed in the vicinity of the outlet of the product accommodating passage 183, and when the long-size products are to be sold, two product carry-out devices 200 are controlled in synchronization to carry out the long-size products, and when the half-size products are to be sold, two product carry-out devices 200 are individually controlled, and the half-size products are individually carried out (e.g., see Patent Literature 1).